Light winds plagued the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Great Britain on day five, with most of the sailors waiting for the fickle breeze to fill in outside the breakwater. When the breeze filled in, the RS:X class started the first of two eventful races in front of the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy.

With a course setup inside the bay, the RS:X fleet have enjoyed better conditions whilst further offshore the breezes have been cancelling each other out. Today was no different, with the boys' fleet getting off as scheduled at 1200 local time in a ten to twelve knot south westerly that provided great planing conditions.

GRODZICKI Closes In On Title

Last year in Busan Lukasz GRODZICKI (POL) dominated to win gold with a day to spare, and he is threatening a repeat performance in Weymouth. In today's opening race he was left a little behind at the start of the windward-leeward course, but simply had superior speed to sail through the leaders and finish just ahead of Dorian VAN RIJSSELBERGE (NED). In race nine another GRODZICKI bullet followed leaving him in a position to wrap up the title in tomorrow's opening race.

For 17 year old GRODZICKI, there is no secret to his success here, 'I prepared really well for this event. I've been training since April and it seems to be paying off.' Meanwhile the Italian Fabian HEIDEGGER and Frenchman Pierre LECOQ battled it out a little too fiercely, causing a port-starboard incident that later got taken to the jury room. Tension built shore side and after much deliberation from the international jury both competitors were later thrown out of the race, giving fourth placed British windsurfer Richard HAMILTON a good chance to move into a medal position over the next two days.

In the girls' fleet, Wiebke SRADNICK (GER) was dominant in the opening race. She seemed well at home in the stronger winds, starting well, going right on the upwind to pull out a lead of almost a minute by the first mark and never looking like letting it slip. Overall leader Laura LINARES (ITA) briefly threatened to peg back the German, but by the finish the gap between first and second was back up to a minute. The wind dropped for the day's second race, which went to Malgorzata BIALECKA (POL). SRADNICK and LINARES found themselves left behind in the second race falling from top five to last when the wind ran out on them. But the girls persevered and pumped their way back up the fleet. LINARES even managed to maintain her exclusive run of top three finishes, with her exceptional level of consistency putting her five points clear of Maayan DAVIDOVICH (ISR) at the top.

Delayed Start

After a few hours of postponements elsewhere, frustrated sailors were finally sent out and races kicked off in ten knots of dying breeze. The wind slowly dropped leaving the 420 and Hobie Cat 16's floating around the course. The young Laser and Laser Radial sailors finally got their start but eventually the race was abandoned, resulting in mixed feelings across the fleet.

In the 420 fleet, the leading ladies, Belinda KERL and Chelsea HALL from Australia, were hoping for a good result today. Despite their twelve point lead, they still know that the Championship is far from over. The giggly twosome finished in second, 'Today was tricky, firstly it was tactical but then it turned into a float off and I suppose we floated quicker. There were definitely two groups in the race and it was a shame that when the wind died, the back of the fleet bunched up towards the front. It could have been very lucky.'

The surprise result of the day was a win by the Hungarian girls, Reka KARACSONY and Nora LOIDL, a result that pulled them up four places to 13th overall. The ecstatic girls put it down to tactical sailing and watching for the zephyrs on the water. 'We used everything we had to sail in the little breeze we had. We are enjoying the event but would have liked to have been doing better.'

The Israeli 420 girls, Tal GEVA and Mia LEBEL, were relegated to third by the Spanish. GEVA confirmed just how difficult the conditions were today. 'It was a tough day - with wind, then no wind. We managed a good finish in seventh place and we are kind of pleased with that result. We were second and hope to have two good days racing as we want a top three finish.' LEBEL confirmed that all they would like, 'Is more wind, please!'

Lead Change In 420s

In the boys' 420 fleet, the Israeli leaders were overtaken by both the Irish team and Argentina's Sebastian PERI BRUSA and Santiago MASSSERONI. Despite not finishing the race, due to lack of time the Argentineans still clawed their way up the board. 'We didn't have a very good day but somehow we are in first, now we have a discard. Looking forward to the next two days, we'll see if we can keep it up!'

The Irish 420 team in second were in good spirits. Helm Tuathal MAC COLGAN and crew Peter DUGGAN described the conditions today. 'There was a bit more breeze at the start, but it died on the last run. We tried to hold our position by reading the patches where the breeze was filling in. We had to keep our heads out of the boat nearly all the time.' MAC COLGAN added, 'We lost a few places towards the end, overlaid the mark, got yellow flagged and had to do a 720 and finished ninth. We are looking for a top three place, we have been pretty consistent so far, but some breeze would be nice!'

In the Hobie fleet, some teams did not manage to finish within the time period and the breeze turned the fleet inside out. The top placed boat British sailors Tom PHIPPS and Richard GLOVER, only placed in fifth, which is their worst result at the event. Both sailors found the conditions today shifty, making it hard to stay in control, 'We tried to cover the fleet as best we could and we tried hard not to fall out the back of the fleet. We were happy to finish ahead of our nearest rivals, the Singaporeans, and the fifth place we did achieve will be our discard. We were relieved there was only one race today in the conditions, as it could have been anyone's race.' Looking towards the next two days of racing, they both said 'We would like more breeze, from a consistent direction and we intend to make sure we stay at the front of the fleet.'

In the afternoon, HRH The Princess Royal, joined the young sailors on the water and watched the racing with keen eyes. Later she met the RS:X sailors, most of which were excited but nervous to meet royalty in such a relaxed and friendly manner.

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